Carbalkoxylation of organic compounds



scribed, although'it is not e may e This inventionrelates to carbalkoxylation of organic compounds'a-nd, particularlm to the introduction of carbalkoxy groups into a wide variety'gof 'organic compounds.

-In the preparation of sodio phenyl malonic esters for use in'the'preparation of phenyl ethyl :barbituric acid-, it has been proposed to react phenyl acetic'ester with an alkalimetal alcoholate "and-a dialk'yl --'carbonate, -in-the'-presence of a grea't eXceSs of the dialkyl carbonate as the reaction medium and carrier. Theme of diethyl carbonate-is attended with appreciable difficulty and, when it is used in substantial excess as the reaction medium, these difficulties are greatly increased. I 1

; It is intended by means of this procedure to pro- Vide a generalprocess'for'the bringing about of carbalkoxylation of the type indicated which is fcharacterized by good yields-and cheap and easily procurable-raw materials."

-: The process apparently c'arr'be-=used wherever carbalkoxylationss of the type *indicated' are wanted. Most such instances seem to comprehend the replacementof an;a'ctive"carbon bonded :ahydr'ogenin the organic compound with the carb alkoxylic: groupLand ithefiinventio'n will be so -deso intended to-limit thetscope/of thBTiIIVEDtiOH... f

The process of the present invention" in addition to providing for the introduction of the carb-- alkoxylgroup usually provides ior theintroduc- 5 tion of Va imetallo group into the: carbalkoxylated compound. The metal-of such group is usually ,andpreferablyone of. thealkali or alkaline earth metals or aluminum; The product at this stage a highly reactive metallocompound; The

p be sodium maybe readilyfreplaced by; either hydrogen or; byxan alkyl vgroup metallo group if it byprocedures of a known type.- Generally speaking,. the process-of, the present inventionicomthe compound to be carbaldialkyl carbonate, in substanprises condensing koxylated with a as a catalyst and metallating agent. This reacrepresented as follows is, the :alkyl of the dialkyl carcal of the 'alcoholate.

y 52,478,997; K V QARBA KOXX ATIOEOFLORGANI V H. C U DS-ww a William- PI Bitle'ran'd Peter'Tai-sio, Haverstra'w,

" "-and-LeonardNicholl, Nyack," N. Y.,

Kay-Eries -Chemicals, Inc;,'lWest Hav'erstraw, I Y.,".'a"corporation of NewYork i510 IliiziwifigQfhpplicatioh March 20, 1945, l

; summssasas w y L o. 54 Claims; (ollizfio -evsy not yet been definitely established: A-large eX- *oess of the dialkyl-carbonate, however, is apparently not necessary as long as 'a non-aqueous polar reactionf the nascent alcohol of cohol associated with assignors to where-"R is "selected from hydrogen and] organic residueswhich do 'notp'ossess an aliphatic 'multiply bonded-carbon atom adjacent t'o the CI-Iz 1-groups;R;"' is-an organic residue attached to the CH2 group by a carbon atom which is multiply bonded to an atom other than carbon','-' Rfis-the -='al-kylofthe 'dialkyl --carbonate, M is} an alkalior 'alkaline earth metal'er aluminumiand R is the radical of the alcoholate. f-

the reaction involved has I The mechanism of u cases where anzalcoholic solution" of -sodium alco'liolate is used; Such procedure results inap- '-preciably higheryields.- f =-It has ;-nowbeen=found that a dialkyl carbonate can beused as a reagent in the preparation of o'ut' difficulty; byusing in approximately stoichiometrical amounts, 7 and tia11y.stoichiometrical amounts, in the vpresence of.ametalalcoholate,which maybe alcohol free,

"} A. sent"application to provide a; novel method of v I ii oed e in l, l

of polar compounds as reaction media or baths The novel discovery phenylalkyl malonic acid alkyl-es'ter'sj and withthe di'alkyl carbonate only I conducting the-reaction in an excess of a polar compound as the reaction medium." 'Asuitable compound for this purpose dioxana When vdioxane is used has beenfound to be as the reaction are used in approximately medium; the reagents equivalent amounts, and the sodium ethoiiideis --added gradually to the reaction mixture; Under such conditions,-no unreacted sodium ethylatefis "permitted to be present at any time, with the re-f -sult that there is no cleavage offthe 'phenyl -ma'lonic ester or'other undesirableside reactions ataking 1 place. With the gradual" addition of the ethoxide, the process I 'herein" 'c'oinprehends' the rapid removal or any alcohol liberated during the c'ourseof the reactionf'so'that the reaction me- Ilium is maintainedsubstantially. alcohol-tree at r .v g .72,

' fThe discoveryherein proves that' polar compounds canbe used as reaction media fora numibe r "of special reactions, including those I involved in: the p t It is; the-reiore, a feature of novelty lofthepre-V ep ara'tion of sodio phenylmalonic chemical reactionsjincljuding the use polar com; pound, such as dioxane,

To this mixture, or

solution, ethyl phenyl acetate and--sodium ethyll ate are gradually added. Any alcohol formed' is ua-net of reea nts:

constantly removed. The used are 118 grams of dietlayl ea te'(1;.-,m 164 grams of ethyl phenyl.-.aqetate .,(1 mol); 3 grams of sodium ethylate solution "4659693: sodium=23.9 Na-l atom); oxane. The above reaction was carried out by adding sodium ethylate solution and the ethyli'phenyl acetate, in substantially equivalent amounts, to =ti eselutien 9i diethyl e be in en .eThe

re qmwes e id et eve a neriq Qfv ieu 11 aet enetine el mn- D e n w main ain thevbe t m e the e lu e hol ent o form d. wa con nuou ly.dis ill ef tempe a ur Th t mnera u o t r ti n mixture, at the beginning, was 109, and 125 atthe endq the -78- A er a amoun of he d e ne. a p o i- .,n at ely a quarter of the total amount,.and some titl s dieth e bqnete a e en ra i h the l li l- Af ere the odium e h la luti n. added t di t l on s eentin edu e he i ste some vere the tq ef th eeli m T hen malon e ster is inedes. the: sod um alt a ee y in olutio xane ii -desir d th .sodio. salt may. b al vlatedrby reaction with ethyl: bromide -.or ethyl chloride in known manner, without isolationgf thezphenyl -=malanieest r o btain.

.ilnprder to .estimatethe, yield of the :'S Odl 0 .phenyl. malol ic ester,-. the: mixture I of the sodio vsalt product indioxane. may. be acidified by. addiae asl ehte e o acet acid mixed w t ..ice,} The oil layer. is separated and'thewater l y extracted onc w t ether and ded to ithe Q i lay The QQ Ilbin d'DrQduct la ers are then fractionated, when there isobtained adiams re t e al ne w th a t l Wa er. an. i term ie e si ef. 5.9 a co ta in 70% @335 tel h n al ester a d- 0% (e 5 a) ,ef, ethyl; phenyl-acetate and, a main cut -of ieh i -l00.% Pure h ny m en e ter. Thi t e-t t ig t h hen l m en e-este recovered is 189 g., whichcorrespondsto ayield "of 88%. and aconversiomof 80%, basedon-the original amount of thyl phenyl acetateju s edh In. the second experiment,.phenylrnalonic acid .ethyl. ester. was prepared' in aslightlydifferent manner. In this procedure, substantially equiv- .alent .weights of ethyl phenyl .ethyl carbonate. is first dissolved in-. the sodium ethylate. solution and this solution is addedto ethyl phenylacetate dissolved in dioxane Re 7 action conditions are maintainedas before,.name- 1 y, ;';t1,1 e..alcoho1 is removed d- & rat .5

.-h urs, ;.th e reaction vessel or a flask havinga at he b tteme h ol im r ac ion. The va or temper ure phenyl; ethyl malonic z 45 as indicated; in: the" I acetate. and diethyl carbonate are again reacted in dioxane. The -d i-" as rapidly as possible (mile. afirst; fraction of dioxane and some water,

,zanadntermediat.ifiraction of 52.2 g. containing 0, or 0.2 g., of phenylmalonic ester, and 42%, of'et hyl phenyl acetate, plus a main fraction of 138 g. of 100%-pure phenylmalonic esterfi'fi'Ehe total amount of phenylmalonic ester obtained is 30.2 g.+133 g. or 168 g., which corzr eeaels-te a yield of 83%rand ae nv sien of ii tenas theeerie na moun of e h nhea etate a As a further indication of the-general appli- -2 'e bi it f the aetie i eth t examp e is iv Th ime. he eth hen l: a et t nd. iethy arb i te ar dis o ved in-d exane -an a1 vhelie s lu ion rs dium ethy ates ewl -add di he e tienm t r Thus. .118 eethy arb i fi mo1), =aad 16% a; eth is henyl' cet te (1 :mol) are dissolvedin 455 g.-of dioxane. There is! added. graduallyv 3'14; g. oiaalcoholic; sodium ethylate containin 15.52 sodium. .iuAsgindicated in the p vious:exp rim ntmioxane s ikept refluxing in the bottom of the column (reaction m ture temperature 1.05-1.07"; temperature. at bqtt m of column .9 8lfl8e)@;and-. care is, ;;taken;to continually;.di still rout promptly ;;:.;thr.ough v:zthe column the. na c nt alcohol oi reaction-and; the alcohol from the sodium .ethyl'atasolution..:.Aft-

- f:- the: diumi' thy ate,-';S0.11.lti0n ;.ihaS;,all. zbeen added -d stil lation.-'is continuedznntilidioxaneapp n-zthe top of .zsthe ucolumn. :The reaction ure is then cooled andxworked;up.;forf:yield .previonsuexamples. .2 There ...y&zas, .obtainied 20.gnofifintermediate':fractionacon- .-,tai ning \7,5 .('or 15 g); of ethylzphenyLacetata (or 5 g.) of phenylmalonic estenxa-ndaa nmainrifractionrof 1'??? g. .:of :pure iphenylmalonic ester. iiThiswwould-zmakeia.ztotal;ofi:-182:g.,.- which corresponds} tda yield-Jot 8.6%.:andzconversion Lof 577%, :Stillranother. examplejs -.as-': fo1lows: This :tirnegthe diethyl: carbonateithe .eth'yl phenyl ace- :.itat.e, and the sodium ethylate solution are mixed, and: then addedwto -'-the -refluxing dioxane. Thus, .5369 g. s ethyl; phenylacetate(2;25 mols) 5265.5- g. diethyl carbonate (2J25 mols) and-"8'15 g.--sodiumii ethylate .solutioncentaining 6.73 Sodium, are mixed and thenradd'ed gradually "}1014 g. go ofidioxaney which is'keptrefluxingin' a two-liter flask set up undel anefiicient fractionating colunin'g-as in: the-previousexperiments. "Gareds takenthat the nascent alcohol of'reaction, and the alcohol from the sodium ethylate are'driven ,eairomthe reaction mixture asrapidly'as'pos'sible. When all the alcohol-has-been driven fiomthe reaction mixture at;.the-- end .oi -.t1} e,,:reactior 1, it -.-may.-a-beyvorked;.;iip -asaindicated above for the yield of sodio 'phenylmalonic ester. Thus, there .70 was: 'obtained 447a0 g of phenylm'alonic ester, which indicated a-yieldand conversion of 88.4-%, based'on the original amount of ethyl phenyl "acetate used. 1 It will be seen,;f'Ij0m -the1-abgyethat-,tlgercondi- J fle s e rreae i senate-widel l var d y u n the non-aqueous polar compound dioxane, or equivalent non-aqueous compounds, which serve as solvents for the several reagents, and do not enter into the reaction themselves. Thus, the reaction can be carried out with good yields, using substantially equivalent amounts of diethyl carbonate and ethyl phenyl acetate, or a slight excess of either one, and adding the sodium ethylate in a number of difi'erent ways. A wide variety of procedures, as described above, may be used to bring the reagents together. It is of prime importance to carry out the reaction in an excess of dioxane, or other suitable non-aqueous polar solvent in which the reagents are largely soluble, as well as to add the sodium ethylate gradually, and to make provision to remove the alcohol of reaction and the alcohol derived from the sodium ethylate promptly, and to avoid any momentary excess of sodium ethylate.

These reactions could also be carried out in other solvents similar to dioxane, say, for example, dimethyl dioxane or any solvent in which sodium ethylate and the sodium salt of phenylmalonic ethyl ester are soluble. Alcohol-free sodium ethylate could also be used if it were added gradually to the reaction mixture. Thus, by maintaining the general relationship of substantially equivalent amounts or weights of diethyl carbonate and ethyl phenyl acetate in the reaction mixture, including the excess of dioxane, the reaction condition can be varied widely and without involving any sacrifice in yield of the desired product.

To recapitulate, the following conditions appear necessary in order to assure a good yield of phenylmalonic ester:

1. Only a minimum amount of alcohol should be permitted in a reaction mixture, and this only for a very short time. This condition may be assured by maintaining some of the solvent refluxing in the bottom of the column to insure that the alcohol is removed from the reaction mixture as rapidly as possible. Sodium ethylate is added slowly so that the alcohol of reaction does not come off separately from the alcohol derived from the sodium ethylate.

2. There must be no momentary excess of sodium ethylate during the reaction. Sodium ethylate must be added at a constant rate governed by the speed with which it reacts.

3. When the above conditions are met, the large excess of diethyl carbonate required by the prior art does not appear to benecessary. This is proved by the use of the dioxane in which all the reactants are quite soluble. The reaction, as

noted, can be carried out with only substantially equivalent amounts of the two reactants, and no large excess of either one. v

4. It is to be noted that, in the second experiment, there is what amounts to a preponderant excess of ethyl phenyl acetate during the greater part of the course of the reaction. This is by reason of the fact that the diethyl carbonate is gradually added to the ethyl phenyl acetate.

It will be seen from the above that, among the advantages of conducting the reaction in the manner disclosed, are the elimination of the necessity of using a large excess of diethyl carbonate and the substitution of a cheaper solvent (dioxane) for such excess diethyl carbonate. Further, the novel processes herein permit the use of sodium alcoholate dissolved in alcohol, which is definitely contrary to the requirements of the teachings of the prior art.

The ability to use the alcoholic sodium ethoxide 6 or sodium alkoxide is a distinct advantage in that it permits the preparation of the ethoxide in an excess of the alcohol, and the direct use of the alkoxide solution so formed. Another advantage would be that, in the case of dioxane, it is possible to carry the reaction out at a lower temperature, -107", under normal pressure than is the case if a large excess of diethyl carbonate is used (126-128").

What is claimed is:

1. The process for the carbalkoxylation of a phenylacetic ester which comprises establishing a reaction bath of a phenylacetic ester in an excess of dioxane as the reaction medium and'common solvent, adding diethyl carbonate gradually to the bath and in equivalent units, adding an alkalimetal alcoholate gradually to the reaction bath under controlled conditions such that no excess of the alcoholate is ever present in the bath, whereby side reactions with the alcoholate are prevented, and continuously removing alcohol liberated in the process from the reaction mixture in an excess of dioxane vapor, whereby no alcohol is ever retained in the bath; and separating the ester from the residual dioxane.

2. Process according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that alkali metal alcoholate is an alcoholic metal alcoholate, and the rate of addition is such that the alcohol liberated in the reaction is removed simultaneously with the alcohol derived from the alcoholate.

3. The process of making sodio-phenylmalonic esters which comprises establishing a reaction bath of a phenylacetic ester in an excess of dioxane as the reaction medium and common solvent, adding diethyl carbonate gradually to the bath and in equivalent units, adding sodium alcoholate gradually to the reaction bath under controlled conditions such that no excess of the sodium alcoholate is ever present in the bath, whereby side reactions with the alcoholate are prevented, continuously removing alcohol'liberated in the process from the reaction mixture in an excess of dioxane vapor, whereby no alcohol is ever retained in the bath, and separating the resulting esters from the dioxane bath.

4. Process as set forth in claim 3, in which the alcoholate is alcoholic sodium ethylate, and the rate of addition is such that the ethyl alcohol liberated in the reaction is removed simultaneously with the alcohol derived from the alcoholate.

WILLIAM P. BITLER. PETER TARSIO. LEONARD NICHOLL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

OTHER REFERENCES Synthetic Organic Chemicals, Carbide and Carbon Chemical Corporation (1940), page 23.

Lux, Eine neue Synthesi des Acetessigesters, Jahrg 62 (1929), 1824-1827. 

